THE INSPECTOR IN THE SCHOOL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14447, 13 February 1909, Page 4

THE INSPECTOR IN THE SCHOOL

By Jack Horner.

AVliaf a thrill, for scholars and leacliore alike, lies in tho word ''Inspector"! Jfcr wiiolars it holds memory ami expectation of examination clay, that- delightful yearly <;xcitcnKMil which brings inmsualiK>>s into t-10 wearisome jnonoiouy of .school lilt), and may oven for a day or two change the lunch Jiour. To teachers il means oxeiteii'.eiii of a much U*t> pk:iMirable nature— oxciicnu-nt too often accompanied by a nervous dread that makes examination day an animal iife^horumcr.

y.ouui,' and inexperienced teachers, more especially young and inexperienced men, strongly repudiate this idea of nervousness, oi fear, of excitement even, at the approach of the iiispjclor. They have hardly learn; yet to recognise their own unconscious exciteij.oni.: ,-ukl as for ("car, "If our work is well done, what is there to trouble about':" they ask.

This is. a natural am! praiseworthy attitude, hut it is only partly jiinfilittl. Take him iiij coolly is they will, the inspector ionics iis a critic. Jits chief duty is to report on their year's work; their 'eliiinccs of promoiiuii, thi'ir whole future career, lie ill liia hands. Ho can make or mar by a word. Possessed of such absolute power, how is lie lo be regarded with indifference'; The work may be as well done as liuuip.ii being could do ii under the trying circumstances of school life, but teachers of experience know that "the* report on it may be anything but satisfactory. Every!bin;,' depends on the inspector's attitude of minti —ion often on his mood of the moiißin. lie may I v. l lor some reason unobservant, psrhuns tired, at anyrafc from some cause unready to give appreciative notice to work

which the teacher fondly hope<l would gain conimendahuii and become a stepping sione to promotion, iie may be so ohsvssetl bv sum-,' new idea, sonic new fad even, as to be r.-ge.MJless of all originality displayed by ihe teacher. More heartrending still, be may be in a bad temper.

Unfortunately, just as there are inspectors io courteous and considerate, so alive io their responsibilities, that even tho mest sudilcscd teacher learns lo welcome them with pleasure and confidence, so there are those whom even I lie youngest and most hopeful inevitably learns to regard with misgiving. Of tht-.ic the most to be dreaded are the men of irritable temper.

Aii irritable temper is a luxury in which no inspector should be allowed io indulge. When making the appoinunent, an enlightened Education Hoard should make its lirsl inquiry in this direction. If after being appointed the inspector develops an unmistakable Ikkl temper, ho should be promptly deposed, and a man of more evenly-balanced disposition put in his place. Better that one man should lose his position than ihat thousands should suffer.

For thousands do sutler, are sulfering to-day, through the unreasoning, unwarranted ill-lompcr of inspectors. Bisheancned teachers produce inferior work, and pupils suffer throughout lire district. Teachers liud it hard to understand why the ir.syiettor should, come into their room liko a thundercloud and growl through the examination like a bear with a sore head. To them fall all (he grind of preparation, ihe long nerve-strain, the weary uphill work, against, tremendous odds and under most unhealthy conditions. Too infipoclor has the much easier la 4 of criticising ihe work already done. For him the school is swept and dusted with unusual care: for him il is garnished wiih flowers; for him Iho children have their Sunday pinafores ami cleanest faces and their most immaculate behaviour: for him extra firms is heaped on the grate on a cold day, special efforts are made to secure fresh air on a hot one: for hint all is made comfortable and pleasant. Why, then, oh I why this crossness'; Swiftly, palnably, Ihe mental atmosphere of the room changes. Reused excitement on Ihe rows of eager faces falls to niystilied dismav. What is the matter? What have they done? Dismay develops into snllonncss. brightness gives place to nervousness and api'mreiit slupidily, and the | day is lost. Smart answers can no longer be. drawn from the disappointed children. The remainder of Ihe examination is a farce. The teacher is doomed io stand by and see a year's good work ultorly ruined by the piii'ahv.ing mental elfect of a bad-tempered inspector. _ The terrible discouragement, the feeling of hopelessness in I lie work, of disgust, at the position, prevents all effort, to retrieve matters ihat. day. imd remains as a miserable under-current of thought, throughout, the ensuing year. Another such experience, completes'the mischief. Enthusiasm is permanently destroyed, and a high-hearted worker is degraded into a hope-forsaken drudge. The reaction on the class is inevitable. Theirs is tho ultimate loss.

.Where the teacher is a woman with a woman's sensitiveness to harshness, the position is almost unbearable. And. as a matter of fact, tho irritable inspector is more often cruel lo a woman than to a man; partly because he is specially irritated by his inability to understand her methods of work. For a woman's instinctive understanding of children puts her in possession of a power of dealing iultiitively with fhem that no man may comprehend, least of all an inspector of ihe typo that, is devoid of patience, of iacl, even of fajr judgment.

The more thoughtful inspector realises that the heads of infant, departnienU in our schools are far ahead of any inspector in the Dominion in tli°ir wide and intimate knowlodge of liitle-child nature, and in their eager study of the most up-to-date books and periodicals dealing: with their work. Such an inspector leaves these capable, women largely alone, secure in tho knowledge that the work will bo better done than under any man's direction. The irritable, overbearing Inspector never takes up such an attitude; he interferes, harasses, discourages, docs infinite harm.

Whichever attitude is taken, that of respectful non-interference or that of resentful harshness, injustice is done to the teacher. In the one ca-se she is iiegeloted. the excessive laborioiiKiiess. of her work unnoticed, its exquisite fineness undnjirpdaicd. its sHocix I'.iiconniiended. its special needs unattended lo; in tho other case she is either paralysed or she rankles at ihe failure to appreciate her good work.

There is only one remedy for Iter—l hat here, in older countries, women should be appointed as inspectors [or Ibis special class of work. Only a woman, and a woman who lias herself spent long years in the teaching of infants, can enter into the peculiar spirit of such tpiirhimr, can realise, the difficulties and understand Ihe requirements of this the most delicate and most important of all departments of school work.

If in each educational district a woman inspector were appointed an urgent and import ant reform would be effected. Scholars and teachers in infant rooms and the lower standards would be infinitely benefited, and the. prornit inspectors, freed from the burden of the incomprehensible, would be happier men.